Love Me Tender
by Griever11
Summary: 'Castle kissing Kate's bruises.' - Prompt fill from the castlefanficprompts Tumblr page. Takes place immediately after Always. One shot.


Prompt fill from the castlefanficsprompt Tumblr account. Takes place between Always and Rise.

Prompt: Castle kissing Kate's bruises after wall sex.

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It's definitely not how she expected it to happen. She's imagined it to be romantic, slow and sweet. She's imagined it to be a combustion of all their pent up lust and energy, a furniture breaking, sheet tearing type of union she knows they're both fully capable of.

But their first time instead takes place against a wall, frantic and hungry, fast and punishing but still oh, so satisfying. She honestly didn't think that this would be what they'd be doing when she finally mustered up the courage to come to him. No, of all the scenarios she imagined as she sat on the swings, drenched and getting more soaked by the minute, this one definitely did not cross her mind.

She tried to lead him to his bedroom earlier that night. Her body screamed for the plush luxury of his sheets and she'd grabbed his hand, tugged him in the general direction of his bedroom but he'd stopped her. Pushed them against the single solid wall in his office and once he'd kissed her, she was a goner. She forgot the pain, focusing instead of the magic of his fingers, his tongue - the pleasure that overrode every other sensation in her body. She'd always thought they would fit well together and now she has solid evidence that they did indeed.

She's heaving, panting loudly into the space between his neck and his shoulder, trying hard to catch her breath. Her body aches, and she knows it's not just from the sex as mind blowing as it had been. She realises then that she hasn't told him much of what transpired on the roof and she needs to, she knows that. But he's holding on to her so tightly, his large hands around her waist, melding her body into his. It's almost like he thinks it's all only a dream and if he let her go she'll disappear in a puff of smoke, never to be seen again.

She needs to remedy that.

"Castle," she whispers as she pulls her head back and lets it thud gently against the wall. She wants to move, but she can't form the words to tell him to let her go. She _never_ wants him to let her go ever again.

"That was awesome," he says with a groan. He's stroking her back lazily, skimming over her ass, fingers burning trails of pleasure and want along her spine. "You're uh, really flexible."

She chuckles, still basking in the warm afterglow of their frantic coupling. "You're not so bad yourself," she mumbles, words she's said to him before but no less true then that it is now.

He pulls her tighter against him and as he does so his palms press into a part of her back that sends a jolt of pain shooting through her entire body. She winces, her hands coming up to grab his biceps and she pushes slightly away from him. She hopes he doesn't notice, not wanting to break the bubble of bliss they seem to have found themselves in.

He notices, of course he does. He lets her go, takes a step back and fixes his eyes on her in worry. It's clear the moment he notices her many bruises, his eyes widening and clouding over. Their bubble has burst. "Did I ... are you hurt?"

Beckett shakes her head, reaches out a hand to his chin to make him look up at her instead of the patches of blue and black starting to appear on her skin. She grabs her shirt that hangs on the side of his desk. "Not from ... that, no. But yeah. I need to... you know I said I almost died?"

Castle nods and pulls on his pants, sensing that they were about to have a conversation he probably should not be naked for. He sits on the couch, gesturing for her to do the same.

Beckett settles herself next to him, pressing the entire side of her body into his and takes his hand in hers. It reminds her of the first time they encountered Jerry Tyson, and she can't help but marvel at how far they'd come since then. Stroking his fingers, she turns to glance at him. He still looks upset and she clears her throat.

"So um, we went after him. Espo and I," she starts. Castle nods but remains silent. She takes that as a cue for her to continue. "Ryan ... Ryan didn't want us to but I was so angry. We cornered him up on a roof of the apartment but he got the drop on Espo and I ... I didn't want to wait for backup."

She inhales, trying to get past the memories of being so badly beaten. The recollection sends tingles through her body, and she feels them now. She feels the bruises, the burn of her muscles that she'd overextended during the fight for her life that afternoon.

"He ... we fought. We fought hard and I thought if I could just get him to tell me, if I could just hurt him enough to get some answers, I could come back y'know? But he knocked me down. Kicked me around and everything happened so fast, the next thing I know I'm falling over the edge -."

Castle interrupts her with a strangled moan. "Kate, oh God."

She reassures him the only way she knows how, twisting so she faces him and kisses him. She wants to kiss away the pain behind his eyes, the regret she knows he will feel even though none of it was his fault. She pulls back after a long moment, lips tingling and swollen. "I'm okay, Castle. I'm here. Can I .. can I continue?"

"Yeah. Yeah, continue. Tell me," he whispers, although the anguish is still clear in his eyes.

"I held on to the edge of the roof, and it was like I wasn't me. I felt like I was watching myself from somewhere else, dangling against the side of the building. And it was then that I realised I didn't care that he'd gotten away, I actually didn't care about anything except ... except you."

"I let you walk out of my life, because I was so stubborn, I couldn't ... didn't see how much you meant to me. I was so blinded back at my apartment, I – I didn't tell you. And there I was, going to die, barely hanging on with my fingertips and all I could think about was you. You, Castle."

"Kate," Castle hugs her, his arms banding tightly around her body. "I – I'm so glad you're okay."

"I thought you were there. I thought I heard your voice and I called out to you. I screamed and screamed your name, hoping you'd find me before I let go so I could tell you ...,"she shudders at the memory. "It was Ryan. Ryan and Gates and a whole bunch of other cops, they pulled me up. Ryan saved my life, but you were the one I was hanging on for."

She kisses him again, having had enough. She doesn't want to relive those moments anymore, wants to come back to the present. He's here with her, his teeth nibbling gently on her lower lip, tongue sweeping in and out of her mouth, sending waves of delicious sensations through her.

She senses he's had enough too, the way he's clutching at her sides. He shuffles them on the couch, moves her so she's lying lengthwise on it, with him looming over her. He straddles her legs, unbuttoning her top again. He slides it off her shoulders, tugging it from under her and throws it somewhere across the room.

"He hurt you," he says softly, gently tracing the newly formed bruises on her skin. "I want to heal you."

He crawls up her torso, sandwiching himself between the back of the couch and her body. He kisses the first of her bruises along her collar bone, leaning over her. "I want to make you feel better."

His fingers play with her nipples as he kisses his way down her body. He flicks his tongue over the spot on the side of her ribs, scraping his teeth gently over the spot and then sucks on it. "Kiss your pain away."

His voice soothes her, it always has. It's rich and deep and she closes her eyes, content to let him administer his own brand of medicine to ease her pain. He takes his time, knowing how hurt she is, paying careful attention to every bruise and wound he comes across.

She hasn't told him about her decision to leave the NYPD. She will soon, she promises herself. He's already upset enough at the first of her revelations for the night, she's not going to overwhelm him. She'll tell him later, once she's convinced him that she's okay and that she's committed to him now, committed to whatever journey it is they're embarking on.

It's definitely not the way she thought the night would end, but as she lies beneath him, basking in blissful contentment, she's glad that it turned out the way it did.

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You can find me on Tumblr under the same pen name as well. And I'm always open to prompts!


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